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SENTENCE REMAINS: Ind. court upholds 253-year sentence for molester

ANDERSON (AP) — An Indiana man sentenced to 253 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to 19 counts of child molesting has lost his bid to have his sentence shortened.The Indiana Court of Appeals this week upheld the sentence issued to 39-year-old William Everage Jr. in July 2012 by a Madison County judge.Appeals Court Judge Cale Bradford wrote the sentence was appropriate because the evidence against Everage was overwhelming, The Herald Bulletin reports (http://bit.ly/14AUyaS ). The victims' families said Everage manipulated them so he could get close to their children, one of whom is autistic. Most of the abuse occurred while Everage was babysitting the children.Everage told an investigator he started molesting children when he was 17 years old. Everage's girlfriend, 31-year-old Jessica Tooley, said she helped Everage molest children, including her own 11-year-old daughter. In August, Tooley was sentenced to 50 years in prison.Everage and his attorneys argued the court didn't take into enough consideration Everage's admission of guilt and cooperation when deciding on a sentence.Bradford noted that Everage failed to show any remorse or desire to change and that the only way to protect the public from Everage is to lock him up.